The Minister for the Interior has regained the power to grant a license for the cultivation of cannabis, popularly referred to as "wee", with a small quantity of its active properties for industrial and medicinal purposes.
The license will strictly be for the cultivation of cannabis with not more than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active ingredient of cannabis, on a dry weight basis. Itshould only be used for industrial or medicinal purposes.
Section 43 of Act 1019 stipulates that “the Minister, on the recommendation of the Commission, may grant a license for the cultivation of cannabis, popularly referred to as "wee" in Ghana, which is not more than 0.3 percent THC content on a dry weight basis for industrial purposes or for obtaining fiber or seed for medicinal purposes.”
The Bill, when assented to by the President, will further prohibit a person who has been granted a license under the bill. This will prevent them from cultivating cannabis for recreational use.
The empowerment came after Parliament passed the Narcotics Regulation Commission Amendment Bill, 2023, yesterday.
The bill amends the Narcotics Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019). It amended Act 1019 to reintroduce Section 43, which provided an opportunity for Parliament to debate the policy rationale of the provision in accordance with Article 106 of the Constitution and in compliance with the Supreme Court ruling.
Supreme Court’s ruling
The amendment to the Bill was triggered by a Supreme Court ruling declaring Section 43 of Act 1019 unconstitutional and, therefore, null and void.
In a 4-3 majority decision on July 28, 2022, a seven-member panel of the apex court held that Section 43 of Act 1019 violated Article 106 of the Constitution. This details the processes a bill must pass through before being passed into law by Parliament, and therefore, the law's passage was null and void.
In the view of the court, the lack of debate on Section 43 of Act 1019 amounted to more than a direct violation of Article 106 of the Constitution. It was also a violation of the law's spirit.
In spite of the fact that Parliament did not debate such a critical stance, there were no debates.
Needless to say, this conduct and mode of lawmaking defeat the transparency and accountability enjoined by the Constitution.
“The dictates of constitutional fidelity, in our view, require that such a shift in policy, which is intended to result in a novel exception, be debated to satisfy Article 106,” the court said. The apex court said Parliament's process offendedthe Constitution's letter and spirit. “This conclusion does not, in any way, derogate from Parliament’s power and independence in its proceedings but is in accordance with our supreme Constitution,” the court held in the Ezuame vs. the Attorney-General and the Speaker of Parliament case.
Urgency of the Bill
Moving a motion for the House to adopt the report of the Defense and Interior Committee, which considered the bill, the Vice-Chairperson of the committee, Ophelia Mensah, said the committee met and determined that the bill was of an urgent nature and should, therefore, be taken under a certificate of urgency.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Mfantseman said the urgency emanated from the numerous benefits Ghana stood to gain by empowering the Minister for the Interior to regulate the cultivation of cannabis that had not more than 0.3 percent THC content on a dry weight basis.
“It came to the attention of the committee that, prior to the Supreme Court ruling, the Narcotics Control Commission and the Ministry of the Interior had held pre-laying engagement with the Parliamentary Committee on Subsidiary Legislation on the Draft Regulations of Act 1019, including provisions for operationalizing Section 43 of the Act.
“The reintroduction of the said section, which was struck down as unconstitutional, will, therefore, restore the Act to its full original provisions. This will pave the way for regulations to be laid in Parliament in accordance with Article 11(7) of the Constitution and Order 77 of the Standing Orders of Parliament,” Ms. Mensah said.
Additionally, the Mfantseman legislator said information gathered by the committee indicated that prior to the Supreme Court ruling, foreign investors had initiated preparations to invest in cannabis cultivation, including entering into agreements with local partners and joint venture companies.
“Some urgency is, therefore, required in the passage of the Bill to minimize potential losses to these interested investors,” Mrs. Mensah added.
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